April 13, 2009

Peugeot 4002

A little history

During the 2002 Paris motor show, Peugeot launched its second design competition, two years after the first one. The contest was open to all amateur designers, with submission to be sent through the French manufacturer’s internet site. The guidelines were rather simple: the project has to be clearly associated with the company, be original and innovative, and reminiscent of a model from Peugeot’s long history. A record 2,800 entries from 90 countries were recorded, making the selection difficult. Six months later, the name of the winner was disclosed during the Geneva motor show: a 32-year old graphic artist from Germany, Stefan Schulze, saw his project, inspired by the 402 of the Thirties, then a futuristic car by itself, being selected above all others. This allowed Schulze to be granted a 5,000 euros check and the promise that his drawings would soon evolve into a 1:1 scale concept car. The pledge was fulfilled at the end of 2003, when the 4002 was presented at the Frankfurt auto show, where it stunned the public with its extremely daring, almost symmetrical shape. The fibreglass and aluminium body, perched on huge 21-inch wheels, is unfortunately nothing more than an empty shell: no mechanical parts were fitted in the 4002, and none will ever be – Peugeot’s dream car is deemed to remain just that: a dream.

About the model

Model: Peugeot 4002
Year: 2003
Maker: Norev
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.1 of its Concept Cars press series
Acquired: brand new, in January 2007, in Hong Kong, S.A.R.

I got this model in Hong Kong, not knowing at the time that it was the no.1 issue of a new press series about to be released a short time later – as a result, I paid more for it than I should have… I avoid collecting show cars and prototypes, so the fact that I grabbed this one as soon as I saw it says much about its quality. Obviously a concept car like the 4002 always appears slicker, cleaner than your everyday road car which has many small technical stuff imposed by engineers over the original design, so I guess a scale reproduction of a motor show prototype should be somewhat easier to make look realistic than most other cars. I may be wrong, but anyway Norev’s model is just fine for me! My rating: 14/20.

Note: I have a brand-new copy of this model that I'm disposing of. If interested, please contact me through e-mail (the address is in my Profile).

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